The present invention relates to a fastening arrangement for a cover disk as a component of a motor vehicle headlight, the motor vehicle headlight comprising a shell as well as the cover disk, which is transparent, which closes at least one open side of the shell, and which is glued to the shell, as well as to a sealing profile framing the cover disk.
Such a fastening arrangement for a cover disk of a motor vehicle headlight is known from German Patent Document DE 44 14 899 C1. The headlight has a headlight shell which, in the area of its open side, is provided with a surrounding frame into which a lens is inserted which is used as a cover disk. The lens is glued to the frame. The frame itself is an undetachable part of the shell. The lens is enclosed by a flexible sealing profile which closes gaps between the lens and the adjoining vehicle body parts. At high outside temperatures, the glued connection between the lens and the shell may soften so that there can no longer be a positionally secure connection between the lens and the shell.
It is also known from German Patent Document DE 37 28 752 C1 to secure a lens glued to the shell of a headlight by an additional fastening frame which is welded to the shell and is fixed to the lens by a glued connection. However, in this case, positional problems may also occur when the bonding agents soften because of higher ambient temperatures.
It is an object of this invention to provide a fastening arrangement of the initially mentioned type which, independently of the temperature, permits a constant positioning of the cover disk on the shell.
This object is achieved by constructing the cover disk, on its outer circumference, with at least one outwardly projecting profile shoulder, and by designing the sealing profile as a securing frame which reaches in a form-locking manner over the profile shoulder of the cover disk which is fastened to the shell by mechanical devices. The form-locking reaching-over of the profile shoulder of the cover disk and the mechanical fixing of the securing frame on the shell achieve a secure positioning of the cover disk on the shell without any positional changes of the cover disk because of a softening of the glued connection between the shell and the cover disk; this results from form-lockingly and mechanically fixing the cover disk by the securing frame. Several webs may be provided as the profile shoulder in the area of the cover disk, and the cover disk is preferably made of plastic. A surrounding profile web may also be provided which is used as a profile shoulder. In a simple manner, the profile shoulder may also be designed as a step in the outer contour of the cover disk. The securing frame has a correspondingly designed profiling in order to be able to form-lockingly reach over the at least one profile shoulder. Mechanical fastening of the securing frame on the shell can take place by detent connections, screwed connections, combined detent/screwed connections, or any other suitable mechanical connection.
As a further development of the invention, a profile section of the securing frame facing away from the shell is designed as a gap screen adapted to the gaps between the cover disk and the adjoining vehicle body parts. This gap screen may be freely designed with respect to its color and, in particular, may be adapted to the paint color of the adjoining body parts or designed to be transparent. As a result, an aesthetically attractive arrangement of the headlight is achieved for a corresponding vehicle body.
In a further development of the invention, the securing frame has at least one fastening receiving device for linking an operating component, particularly a bumper section. This provides the securing frame with an additional function. A particularly low-tolerance linking of a bumper section or of another non-supporting vehicle body part can be achieved by drilling a threaded bore with a step drill when the bumper section is in the mounted condition.
In yet a further development of the invention, the securing frame has at least one outwardly projecting elastic sealing lip which, for tight contact, is arranged on adjoining vehicle body parts. This sealing lip must not be a surrounding sealing lip; rather, it can only be provided in sections at relevant spaces between the headlight and the respective adjoining vehicle body part. The at least one sealing lip results in a sealing-off of the surrounding field of the headlight, which permits improved aerodynamics and noise reduction in the installed condition of the headlight. If the headlight is positioned in front of an engine compartment of the motor vehicle, then this at least one sealing lip also reduces dirtying of the engine compartment.